At the opening of CIFF

9 February 2006

Mary attended the opening of the Copenhagen Fashion Fair, of which she would be the patron untill 2013.

At Bella Center she first watched the CIFFkids Trendshow. In the afternoon she also saw other fashion shows. Mary was accompanied by countess Victoria Bernstorff-Gyldensteen, her lady-in-waiting.

She wore new Prada boots and a new skirt by CCDK.

 

In the first half of the year crown princess Mary would only gradually take up official activities. She was also breastfeeding Christian.

Prince Christian's christening - extra labels 2

New year's day 2006

1st January 2006

On new year's morning, Frederik, Mary and their son (who hadn't been named yet) were seen taking a plane to fly to Copenhagen.

In the evening they were part of the first of three new year's courts, lead by queen Margrethe.

Members of government and justice attended this solemn gala at Amalienborg palace.

This was Mary's first real nytårskur - the previous new year's court had been downscaled to a reception behind closed doors due to the tsunami disaster in Sout East Asia, which also killed many Danes.

Mary wore a new gown by Herik Hviid and her ruby parure.

Also present were princess Elisabeth, prince Joachim ....

... and countess Alexandra of Frederiksborg - Joachim's ex wife. In 2006 she no longer entered the palace with the royal familt, but had to take the guest entry. She did get the honour of being the last to arrive - which means she was the highest in rank.

Also there: chief of court Per Thornit & Mary's lady-in-waiting countess Victoria Bernstorff-Gyldensteen.

Memorial concert for queen Ingrid

6 November 2005

Crown prince Frederik & crown princess Mary attended the memorial concert for Frederik's grandmother, queen Ingrid of Denmark, who died 5 years earlier. It was held at Tivoli's concert hall, in Copenhagen.

This was Mary's first public outing after the birth of her son, 3 weeks earlier. It wasn't the start of going back to work though - that would be in January 2006, and only very gradually.

Mary wore a new Malene Birger dress and a new Prada coat.

They were accompanied by Mary's lady-in-waiting, countess Victoria Bernstorff and chief of court Per Thornit.

The other Danish royals present were: queen Margrethe, ex queen Anne-Marie of Greece, her son prince Nikolaos of Greece, princess Benedikte, her children prince Gustav von Berleburg and princess Alexandra von Berleburg + husband count Jefferson von Pfeil. Also prince Joachim and his ex wife, countess Alexandra Frederiksborg.

Suicide Prevention Day

10 September 2005

As patron of PsykiatriFonden crown princess Mary opened a day of conferences dedicated to World Suicide Prevention Day, at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen.

She was accompanied by her lady-in-waiting, countess Victoria Bernstorff-Gyldensteen.

This was Mary's last official activity before the birth of her first child, 5 weeks later.

Hans Knudsen Instituttet

7 September 2005

Crown princess Mary visited a new workshop building of the Hans Knudsen Institute that helps people with physical, mental or other challenges to learn a profession and find a job.

Mary was offered a pair a "home made" baby boots - for obvious reasons.

Lady-in-waiting Victoria Bernstorff-Gyldensteen was present too.

Donation for Julemærkefonden

6 September 2005

As patron of Julemærkefonden, crown princess Mary accepted a donation of 180.000 Danish kroner (about 24.000 euro) from Inner Wheel, an international women's service organisation.

Chairwoman Hanne Krøgh Rasmussen was invited to the crown prince couple's home, Kancellihuset in Fredensborg. There was champagne and cake, while the ladies talked about the fundraising, the weather, dogs, Australia and New Zealand.

Mary was nearly 8 months pregnant with Christian.

Mary's lady-in-waiting, countess Victoria Bernstorff-Gyldensteen supervised the meeting.

Donation for Hjerneskadeforeningen

5 September 2005

Crown princess Mary arrived at the Hôtel d'Angleterre in Copenhagen to receive an important donation on behalf of the Brain Injury Association.

The Hotel's owner, Henning Remmen - he died in 2012 - gave 2 million Danish crowns (about 268.000 euro) to the Association.

Mary would give birth to Christian 5 and a half weeks later. Just like during the rest of her pregnancy, Mary was very (publicly) active in the last stage as well.

As usual, her lady-in-waiting accompanied her.

Fifteenth patronage: Dansk Golf Union

4 September 2005

Accompanied by her lady-in-waiting - countess Victoria Bernstorff-Gyldensteen - pregnant Mary handed out the trophee at the Masters Golf Tournament at the Kokkendal Golf Club in Hørsholm.

The crown princess had accepted the patronage of the Danish Golf Union. Ever since her working days in Australia she'd been a golfer herself.

HC Andersen Parade

3 September 2005

Accompanied by her ever present lady-in-waiting pregnant crown princess Mary attended a parade for the Hans Christian Andersen centenary.

Mary also gave a speech about an international letter writing competition for children, that was held for the HC Andersen year, where she talked about the many letters she receives from all over the world and about the letters she used to write to her grandmother.

 "Jeg er blevet bedt om at tale lidt om mit forhold til at skrive breve i forbindelse med denne dags præmie-overrækkelse til de to bedste brevskrivere i verden. Min første tanke var ' åh nej', nu er jeg nødt til at udtale ordene skrive og breve mange gange, og de to ord har jeg svært ved at udtale.

Nåh…Jeg vil helst tale lidt mere frit end blot at holde mig til emnet brevskrivning.

At lære at skrive og læse er vejen til viden og personlig udvikling og vækst. Man kan ikke sætte ord på, hvor vigtigt det er at kunne læse og skrive. Det er en gave, en gave af håb. En gave, vi alle sammen skulle have rettigheden til, men desværre er det ikke alle, som får chancen. 

Det er flot, at over tre millioner unge fra 25,000 skoler over hele verden har deltaget i konkurrencen. Det viser en stærk forståelse af, hvor vigtigt det er at skrive, og at det også kan være sjovt.

Man kan sige så meget i et brev. Tænk et øjeblik på den viden, vi var gået glip af, hvis mennesker ikke havde sat blyant til papir. Hans Christian Andersen er et perfekt eksempel. Han skrev hele tiden, ikke kun eventyr men også breve, dagbøger og rejsebøger. Hvis ikke han havde været så frodig med sin skrivning, havde vi kun kendt meget lidt til hans person. Og tænk tilbage til den gang meget af verden var uopdaget. Uden det skrevne ord, hvordan kunne man så fortælle andre om, hvad man så eller om, hvad man oplevede på den anden siden af jorden. Det skrevne ord dokumenterer historien.

Hver dag får jeg mange breve fra mange forskellige lande og fra mennesker i alle aldre. Hvert eneste et er jeg meget glad for og ofte rørt over, hvad der står i dem. Folk skriver blandt andet om deres liv, deres personlige følelser og deres forhold til den kongelige familie. Brevene kommer ofte med søde tanker og varme ønsker, fotos og tegninger. Hvert brev giver mig et indtryk af den person, som har taget sig tid til at skrive til mig. Jeg ville gerne kunne svare personligt på hvert brev, men det er desværre ikke altid muligt.

Jeg elsker at skrive (men gør det ikke nok) og synes, det er en rigtig god måde at få de ting ud, som man tænker og føler. Det er mere personligt at skrive eller få et brev end at formidle med e-mail eller SMS. Der er noget specielt ved at holde et brev i hånden og at se sin kæres håndskrift og den måde, hvorpå skriften afspejler, hvad de tænker og føler. Min farmor og jeg skrev til hinanden ofte, og i dag kan jeg stadig tage et af hendes breve frem og føle, at hun er i nærheden, selvom hun døde for nogle år siden.

Jeg vil gerne ønske alle, der deltog i verdensmester-skabet i brevskrivning et stort tillykke. Jeg håber, at I alle sammen vil fortsætte med at skrive breve - hvem ved, måske bliver jeres breve en vigtig del af historien?"